Indeed, there's plenty of research to support ketogenic diets in the treatment of some devastating neurological conditions. But can it really help the average Joe or Joanne lose weight? Well, yes, in theory — especially ultra low-calorie versions. But is it suitable for long-term, sustainable weight loss and improved health? The jury's still out on that.
Note: Are you a vegetarian or vegan and want to go on a ketogenic diet? It’s still possible! Just keep in mind that the dietary restrictions can sometimes be a little bit intense. Make sure to plan ahead and prepare to aid your success. To help out, we’ve published articles (with 7 day meal plans included) for both the vegetarian ketogenic diet and the vegan ketogenic diet.
A study with an intent-to-treat prospective design was published in 1998 by a team from the Johns Hopkins Hospital[19] and followed-up by a report published in 2001.[20] As with most studies of the ketogenic diet, there was no control group (patients who did not receive the treatment). The study enrolled 150 children. After three months, 83% of them were still on the diet, 26% had experienced a good reduction in seizures, 31% had had an excellent reduction and 3% were seizure-free.[Note 7] At twelve months, 55% were still on the diet, 23% had a good response, 20% had an excellent response and 7% were seizure-free. Those who had discontinued the diet by this stage did so because it was ineffective, too restrictive or due to illness, and most of those who remained were benefiting from it. The percentage of those still on the diet at two, three and four years was 39%, 20% and 12% respectively. During this period the most common reason for discontinuing the diet was because the children had become seizure-free or significantly better. At four years, 16% of the original 150 children had a good reduction in seizure frequency, 14% had an excellent reduction and 13% were seizure-free, though these figures include many who were no longer on the diet. Those remaining on the diet after this duration were typically not seizure-free but had had an excellent response.[20][21]
The best part of low carb eating is that you can still have rich, savory foods – dieting isn’t really a part of the lifestyle. Your body regulates your hunger naturally, so keeping your carbs low is the main concern. Being able to do that while still enjoying roast, fish, and big, healthy salads is what makes low carb so easy to stick with, and keep the weight off for good.
When you’re burning more ketones, you can start releasing a bit of acetone, which smells like nail-polish remover. Or you might release ammonia. Sometimes you get that sulfur smell. For all of these, increase vegetable consumption. Over time, you’ll be more efficient at burning ketones, and a lot less of this will happen. If you’re getting an ammonia smell, it means you’re eating too much protein and need to cut back. A sulfur odor means there’s a gut issue, and you need to regulate your gut bacteria; you should take a type of probiotic called Pro EM-1, which you can find online.
Over 8–10 mmol/l: It’s normally impossible to get to this level just by eating a keto diet. It means that something is wrong. The most common cause by far is type 1 diabetes, with severe lack of insulin. Symptoms include feeling very sick with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and confusion. The possible end result, ketoacidosis, may be fatal and requires immediate medical care. Learn more
When you get to one meal a day, just make sure the meal is a robust one, containing all the needed nutrients to fortify your body with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, those important fatty acids, trace minerals—all of it. (This can be aided with green drink powders and high-quality electrolyte supplements that will help you get your daily requirements for potassium.)
Since this is my full-time job, donations really help me keep afloat and allow me to post as much to the website as I do. While I do really appreciate any donation you want to give, you can enter $0 in the amount given to download it for free! I’ve added in $5 as the suggested price. I think that’s a very fair price considering other websites are charging in the hundreds of dollars and I’ve seen what they are like on the inside.
You’ll need to focus on titrating your insulin. Given the low amount of carbs in the Keto diet, I suggest you take detailed notes on how your blood sugar reacts to protein and fats. That way you can determine how much insulin to take with food. As for your basal, if you consistently go high/low without any bolus on board it might be a good idea to revisit your basal rates
Ally, We haven’t tried this recipe with another cooking method, but it should actually be pretty easy! The objective is to cook the chicken (any way you like, poached, baked, grilled, or even rotisserie) until it can be shredded, and then mix the shredded chicken with the creamy sauce. To cook the creamy sauce on the stovetop, we recommend crisping the bacon in a saucepan and then removing it and adding the water and spices. Once the water is simmering, add the cream cheese a bit at a time (slightly softened would probably work best), whisking until it’s incorporated. Cooked this way, you may need to add a splash more liquid (water or broth, if you prefer) to the sauce, because some of the liquid will evaporate off as the cream cheese melts down. Finally, stir in the cooked shredded chicken and shredded cheddar, and serve! If you try it this way, please let us know how it goes!

No fruit but some berries. Apples have too many carbs. Pineapples will create massive insulin spikes. Never consume fruit juices: Valuable phytonutrients are bound to the fiber, and these are lost; plus the juice is cooked, removing many other nutrients. You’re basically just drinking concentrated fructose. You can get away with one-half to one cup of berries a day.

One of the meals you will see recurring frequently in the meal plan is a Cobb Salad. We are big advocates for the Cobb Salad! You know us… shills for Corporate Cobb Salad. Really though, we find Cobb Salads to be a great way to get a meal with perfect keto macros as well as pack in some much needed micro-nutrients. We love them so much we made a video to show everyone how we make them! For this meal plan you’ll be making a salad just like the one in this video minus the shredded cheese:
Say hello to the pili nut! Boasting a higher fat and lower carbohydrate content than just about any other nut on the planet, this snackable wonder is your ketone-loving body’s new best friend. Hunter Gatherer’s handy multipack includes flavors like black pepper turmeric, spicy chili, and Himalayan salt and coconut oil, each wild harvested from pili trees in the mountains of the Philippines.
With intermittent fasting, the whole goal is to burn off excess fat, right? Watch how you feel when you exercise. Do you feel best when you exercise after eating or if you exercise while fasting? Watch if your legs feel heavy or if you tire too easily. Some people do well with eating first, while some love that feeling of exercising when they have fasted and having to eat afterwards.
When you lose weight, fat cells shrink. In a fat cell, there are triglycerides and cholesterol. Now, as that fat cell shrinks, you can burn triglycerides, but you cannot burn cholesterol. So it will go into the blood, go to the liver, and come out through the bile. But you’ll be totally fine as long as your triglycerides are low. (If you’re not using those as fuel, then you’re eating too much sugar.)
This is the only way my kids will eat Brussels sprouts! It’s actually great for me because this dish is fast, easy and healthy, and it makes a lovely side. Quick-cooking Brussels sprout halves are available in the prepackaged salad aisle at the grocery store. They’re a timesaver if you can find them, but you can always just buy whole ones and slice them in half. —Teri Rasey, Cadillac, Michigan
Although there are many seed-based crackers available on Amazon, Davidson says these flaxseed crackers are a winning keto pick, because they're relatively low in carbs and provide a decent amount of fiber. They're also high in omega-3, a fatty acid that's beneficial for a healthy brain, skin, and heart. Davidson recommends adding some flavor and creaminess by spreading some Laughing Cow Cheese on top.
We understand not everyone in your family will be eating a low carb high fat (lchf) diet. To adjust our keto recipes to fit a family who are not all eating a ketogenic diet, you may simply cook a side of carbohydrates along with our recipe. A side of mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice will usually make a great accompaniment for our keto diet recipes so that you don't have to cook two separate meals - you will just avoid the carbohydrate portion.
Another trigger of insulin is large quantities of protein. This was one of the issues with the Atkins diet. The optimum amount of protein per meal is about 3 to 6 ounces. Protein is needed for repairing and providing the raw material for muscle, tendons, joint cartilage, and even bone. Protein can also be used for fuel; however, too much protein triggers insulin which can be converted to sugar and then to fat.

Keto Bread Recipe - Four Ways - quick and simple way to make low carb, individual keto bread rolls, in ramekins and just a few healthy ingredients. You can either bake it in the microwave for 90 seconds or in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The the-easiest, the-best kept bread recipe I've ever tried. There are four different options available - you can make cheese keto bread, broccoli ketogenic bread, bacon and spinach and feta. And of course you can leave it as it is, if you prefer plain kept bread rolls.

Join our community of “losers” today and subscribe free to IBIH newsletters to get notified when I post new keto recipes and updated keto diet menu plans! Also head over to the IBIH Facebook page where the cool kids hang out – and you’ll get access to my daily Amazon freebies, health and fitness tips, and other fun content I only post on Facebook! Finally, be sure to register for our new IBIH Community Forum where you can get daily support for the 5 Day Keto Soup Diet, 5 Day Keto Egg Fast Diet, Weekly Keto Diet Menu Plans, or just gab with fellow IBIH fans who are following a low carb or gluten free lifestyle!
Because the ketogenic diet alters the body's metabolism, it is a first-line therapy in children with certain congenital metabolic diseases such as pyruvate dehydrogenase (E1) deficiency and glucose transporter 1 deficiency syndrome,[34] which prevent the body from using carbohydrates as fuel, leading to a dependency on ketone bodies. The ketogenic diet is beneficial in treating the seizures and some other symptoms in these diseases and is an absolute indication.[35] On the other hand, it is absolutely contraindicated in the treatment of other diseases such as pyruvate carboxylase deficiency, porphyria and other rare genetic disorders of fat metabolism.[9] A person with a disorder of fatty acid oxidation is unable to metabolise fatty acids, which replace carbohydrates as the major energy source on the diet. On the ketogenic diet, their body would consume its own protein stores for fuel, leading to ketoacidosis, and eventually coma and death.[36]

Keto Bread Recipe - Four Ways - quick and simple way to make low carb, individual keto bread rolls, in ramekins and just a few healthy ingredients. You can either bake it in the microwave for 90 seconds or in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The the-easiest, the-best kept bread recipe I've ever tried. There are four different options available - you can make cheese keto bread, broccoli ketogenic bread, bacon and spinach and feta. And of course you can leave it as it is, if you prefer plain kept bread rolls.

Ketogenic diets are very, very powerful, metabolically speaking and this is especially important if you take any kind of medication for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol or triglycerides. The amount taken of these medications will most likely need to be sharply reduced while on a ketogenic diet to avoid negative effects such as excessively low blood sugar or blood pressure.
Salad — You really can’t go wrong with low-carb vegetables, especially with mixed greens as the base. Add some bacon bits, hard-boiled egg, and/or parmesan cheese for extra fat and protein. Use a homemade full-fat keto dressing or something simple like extra virgin olive oil to add even more fat. Here are some delicious keto salads you can try: Charred Veggie and Fried Goat Cheese Salad, Crispy Pork Salad, Oven Roasted Caprese Salad, and Spinach Watercress Keto Salad.
Getting control of your diet is the first and most important step towards lasting health and weight loss. Low carb recipes like these will give you a good blueprint to move forward with permanent changes to the way you eat that will improve your life and health. When filled with healthy, whole foods that are low in carbs and prepared deliciously, the keto diet is an amazing way to create a lasting, positive difference in your life!
Hi Maya. I LOVE your site!! Interesting, informative with fab recipes and ideas. Hubby and I have just started eating low carb and I have to say, we are not finding it too difficult and I already feel sooo much better!! I find the hardest part is choosing low carb veg, I feel as if we are not eating enough. Any suggestions on how to get more veggies into our diet?
When a person goes off the ketogenic diet and regains much of their original weight, it’s often not in the same proportions, says Kizer: Instead of regaining lean muscle, you’re likely to regain fat. “Now you’re back to your starting weight, but you no longer have the muscle mass to burn the calories that you did before,” she says. “That can have lasting effects on your resting metabolic rate, and on your weight long-term.”
Con: Results can vary depending on how much fluid you drink. By drinking more water, you dilute the concentration of ketones in the urine and thus a lower level of ketones will be detected on the strips. The strips don’t show a precise ketone level. Finally, and most importantly, as you become increasingly keto-adapted and your body reabsorbs ketones from the urine, urine strips may become unreliable, even if you’re in ketosis.
There are many scenarios that can cause constipation with the ketogenic diet. Most people assume it’s a fiber issue; but it’s not that simple. You want to compare what you were doing before ketosis and after. Look at the change in vegetable fiber consumption; if you don’t have enough gut bacteria to digest all these vegetables, they will cause bloating, constipation, gas and all kinds of digestive issues. Some people can digest vegetables and others can’t. Some people can’t digest cabbage or cruciferous veggies. So, you might have to switch to less fibrous vegetables, such as various kinds of lettuce, and especially kale and beet greens, for your potassium. Electrolytes greatly help with constipation, too. If you need more support getting electrolytes, try my electrolyte powder. It helps supply the 4,700 mg a day of potassium you need, which is hard to manage without eating loads of vegetables.
But first a little legal and medical coverage: Although I have a Master's degree in Applied Clinical Nutrition, I am not a physician. I do have extensive experience with eating the ketogenic way, and I cured my health problems with a ketogenic diet. I am not guaranteeing that this diet will work for you or cure your health problems. I am just sharing what I know about ketogenic diets. Click here for the full legal disclaimer.
Another trigger of insulin is large quantities of protein. This was one of the issues with the Atkins diet. The optimum amount of protein per meal is about 3 to 6 ounces. Protein is needed for repairing and providing the raw material for muscle, tendons, joint cartilage, and even bone. Protein can also be used for fuel; however, too much protein triggers insulin which can be converted to sugar and then to fat.
You want to keep your cheats to none. Be prepared, make sure you’re eating what you need to be satiated (“full”), and make sure you’re satisfied with what you’re eating. If you have to force yourself to eat something, it will never work out in the end. This is just a guideline on how you can eat on a ketogenic diet, so you’re very welcome to change up what kind of foods you eat!
Therein lies the problem, of course. You can’t just walk in to any store or restaurant and grab yourself some keto snacks. We are making progress on that front, for sure, but we’ve still got a ways to go. While there are a number of decent store-bought options like cheese, nuts, and hard-boiled eggs, there are potential pitfalls everywhere. Like beef jerky, which can often contain a startling amount of sugar and carbs.

If you want to slam a protein shake post-workout, that's probably fine as long as you've got room for it in your macros. But shoot for one that is very low—like, zero—in carbohydrates. Pure isolates, such as Signature 100% Whey Isolate, are extremely low in carbohydrate. If you struggle to fit fat in during the day, toss a tablespoon of olive oil in with your shake. You won't taste it, and it gives a quick 13-14 grams of fat.

It usually takes three to four days for your body to go into ketosis because you have to use up your body's stores of glucose, i.e., sugar first, Keatley says. Any major diet change can give you some, uh, issues, and Keatley says he often sees patients who complain of IBS-like symptoms and feeling wiped out at the beginning of the diet. (The tiredness happens because you have less access to carbs, which give you quick energy, he explains.)
These cookies will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping you in ketosis, says Fillenworth. They're made primarily with coconut and cashews, which are rich in good fats. Although they contain some coconut sugar, these cookies get most of their keto-safe chocolate flavor from unsweetened chocolate. However, Fillenworth notes that a serving of two cookies contains 8 grams of net carbs, which can be too high for some keto dieters. She recommends sticking with one cookie if you want to successfully work it into your diet. (Also try these homemade keto fat bombs for a sweet treat.)

Another trigger of insulin is large quantities of protein. This was one of the issues with the Atkins diet. The optimum amount of protein per meal is about 3 to 6 ounces. Protein is needed for repairing and providing the raw material for muscle, tendons, joint cartilage, and even bone. Protein can also be used for fuel; however, too much protein triggers insulin which can be converted to sugar and then to fat.

After increasing water intake and replacing electrolytes, it should relieve most all symptoms of Keto Flu. For an average person that is starting a ketogenic diet, eating 20-30g of net carbs a day, the entire adaptation process will take about 4-5 days. My advice is to cut your carbs to fewer than 15g to ensure that you are well on your way into ketosis within one week. If you are experiencing any more keto flu symptoms, double check your electrolyte intake and adjust.